Readiness aligned with the country’s ambitions and people

Jordan’s first readiness proposal (JOR–RS–001) worth USD $300,000 enabled their National Designated Authority (NDA) to effectively engage with the GCF and national stakeholders to develop a nationally designed GCF programme and put in place systems, procedures, and capacities to sustain such efforts in the medium and long‐term. These efforts showed significant alignment with national priorities. Jordan’s GCF Country Programme was built upon work done in Jordan on the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and other development strategies and three concept notes for energy and water, biogas, and health sector projects were developed in line with national priorities and the country’s policy framework.

Jordan’s second readiness grant (JOR-RS-002) worth USD $710,000 secured the country’s ambition to realise direct access, enhance access to finance, and engage the private sector. The project’s primary accomplishment was the submission of a completed Stage 1 GCF Direct Access Entity (DAE) Accreditation application for the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) and Jordan’s national development bank operating in all municipalities. Before the end of the project, CVDB was nearing completion of submitting its responses to the Stage 1 review by GCF, and at this stage, has been pre-approved by the Senior Management Team to be moved to Stage II by the end of 2022. The second major accomplishment was the development of a bilingual Project Preparation Bankability Guidebook and 10 concept notes, which cover energy production, water usage, and transport. This means both the National Designated Authority (NDA) and private sector now have a comprehensive capacity building guidebook to support increased access to finance (from GCF and other climate funds) and that Jordan has an initial GCF project pipeline of concepts aligned with its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) action plan, national climate policy, and green growth action plans.

Jordan’s third readiness support package (JOR-RS-003) aims to facilitate country National Designated Authorities (NDA) and focal points so that they can fulfil their roles and responsibilities, and to support direct access applicants and accredited direct access entities (DAE) to meet and maintain the GCF’s accreditation standards. This has thus far seen the development of a DAE Operational Manual alongside training to Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) (National DAE) staff. In addition, DAE Accreditation Support has been provided to CVDB, whose accreditation has advanced to Stage 2, and to a private sector DAE candidate, Catalyst Investment Management Jordan, whose accreditation has advanced to Stage 1. This work will be supplemented by long term plans, including 2 Simplified Access Proposal and Project Preparation Facility applications.